Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-20
GH0sls ON BOARD THE SHIP.
Why she ssN oung Mechanic y ""'
harmed In Calcutta Bay.


~nv the ssN Oung Mechanic - was
aurned In Calcutta Bay.
Every sailor who roamed the sea dur
inp the wat, heard by some means OF
other of the mercbantman, the Young
Mecbauic. which sailed from New fork
in the spring before the war, to Calcutta
and after lying up in the Ganges river
An summer without any crew, or being
able to obtain a charter, was ordered u
BE- burned to the waters edge.
The peculiar order was mystery "
thoss nnacouainted with the circum-
stances. but not so much mystery 70
clear-mipded thinkers, as the tact ina,
the ships captain. mate anu oie"
abandoned the ship entirely upon a. ann
ing in Calcutta bay, and nndeI no .o -
ditions could they be preyaiieu upIn ~
return to her. 1t finally leaked ou', NV" J
ever. that some OF the ships ere" hau
burned her, aud the reason, wnich was
reasonable enough to superstitious sea
men. was that the Young Mechanic was
haunted. Ia those days sailors had 10
he seamen and officers butchers, ana on
her wov ont two of her crew had been
hrutallv murdered by the officers, who
hsd hestsn them with Delaying pins Tor
refusine to go aloft during severe
.torm. The bodies OF the murdered men
were thrown to the sharks, and few
NIGHTS sfterward strange noises began to
81 heard in the hold and on deck, and
sometimes screams of agony came from
the rigging, so that shortly q rumor
spread among the crew that the spirits
OF the boys who had been beaten were
haunting the vessel. One night the
ships cook came rushing from peiow
with his hair on end and eyes staring
wildly and told the officer on watch that
the two men had stood by his bunk side
bv side. with their faces covered with
blood. and stared at him till he Jumped
ont and ran up ON deck. When the
ship hauled up in Calcutta bay the sail
ora soon circulated the account OF what
had occurred on the way out among the
deckhands, and from them 1t passed
everywhere.
At the close OF the war the sloop-of-
war Brooklyn, flagship OF Admiral
Rodgers feet, lay in the bay at Monte
yideo to protect American interests dur
ing the Paraguay troubles. One night
gang OF the boys were lounging between
guns, among them q messenger boy
named Baker, who now resides IN Chi
caQo. and has entertained Political aspi-
rations in the direction of an alderman
ship. Among the fellows also was
sailor by the name OF Brooks. who mad
served on the Adelaide, merchant YES
sell which anchored in Calcutta bay the
.ama summer that the Young Mechanic
did. Finally it came Brooks turn 20
spin O yarn, and he volunteered an ae-
count Of a visit which, in company with
another one of the crew from the AIDE
laide, he had made to the Young Me-
chanic to investigate for their own salts
faction whether the ship really was IN
habited by the ghosts OF two men said
to have been murdered. Said Brooks:
"Me an my pard slipped off from the
boys one night, got into the 'ssnd-pan
an pulled up 'longside o the black hulk
All was still, an we could see the lights
in the distance, on the shore, as we
arg ed which one o us should be the first
to board her. Finally we agreed that
both of US should go up together. so,
maxim the pan fast, we climbed up the
steps and pushed our heads above the
rail. The moon was just a-gettin up,
an throw'd dim shadow, SO that,
sizin' her up fore an aft, we could see no
mortal bein' on the decks. Crawlin' over
the rail, we tip.toed about till We come
to the steps leadin' down into the foke'-
sci without sightin' livin' soul. Then
we ag'n arge'd whether twas best to go
below, and decided upon doin' it. So,
ketchin' holi on one another, We de-
scended cautiously-like, down between
decks, when, just as we got to the bot
tom, something seemed to mesmerizs
and hold US right in our tracks. l felt
pArd's fingers tighten on me arm when
out from for'ard end there came a cloud
of light which filled the tween decks
and showed US two men ahead bendin'
over and draggin' chains back and forth
across the floor, maxim a most ungodly
noise. Then they rose up and come a
tramp, tramp, trampin' down the lines
towards us. felt my hair raise like
bristles, and if I'd died l couldn't ha'
sid word. But them two men kept a
comm till they stopped right in front OF
US. An one O. them had tbs side O. his
head and face all battered in and bloody,
while t'other fellows bresst lay bare
and showed where he had been cut ana
pounded. Well, tn y stood there mute |
a. posts till at last I got my tongue an |
asked EN- who they were. An the one
With 4 mashed head opened his mouth
an said: We were murdered on this
ship an are doomed to haunt her till
she is burned, and then it come dark
and We heard the chains rattlin' again.
Well, we got out O. that as soon as we
could, for we knew all we wanted TO
about the haunted ship. Less AN
fortnight after that the Young Mechanic
was burned n-CChicapo News.